An engaging and accessible survey of the Mamluk Sultanate which positions the realm within the development of comparative political systems from a global perspective.

The Mamluk Sultanate

The colourful story of the Mamluk dynasty – marked with treachery, carnage and destructive behaviour – is a significant chapter in the history of the Near East.

The Mamluks

The most enduring testament to the Mamluk Sultanate is its architecture. Not only do Mamluk buildings embody one of the most outstanding medieval architectural traditions, Mamluk architecture is actually a key to the social history of the period. Analysing Mamluk constructions as a form of communication and documentation as well as a cultural index, "Mamluk History Through Architecture" shows how the buildings mirror the complex - and historically unique - military, political, social and financial structures of Mamluk society. With this original and authoritative study, Nasser Rabbat offers an innovative approach to the history of the Mamluks - through readings of the spectacular architecture of the period. Drawing on examples from throughout both Egypt and Syria, from the Citadel and Al-Azhar Mosque of Cairo to the Mausoleum of al-Zahir Baybars in Damascus, Rabbat demonstrates how Mamluk architecture served to reinforce visually the spirit of the counter-Crusade, when the Muslim world rebounded from the setbacks of the First Crusade. Both holistically and in case studies, Rabbat demonstrates how history is inscribed into and reflected by a culture's artefacts. This is a groundbreaking work in the study of architecture and social history in the Middle East and beyond.

Mamluk History through Architecture

The Mamluk Sultanate represents an extremely interesting case study to examine social, economic and cultural developments in the transition into the rapidly changing modern world. On the one hand, it is the heir of a political and military tradition that goes back hundreds of years, and brought this to a high pitch that enabled astounding victories over serious external threats. On the other hand, as time went on, it was increasingly confronted with "modern" problems that would necessitate fundamental changes in its structure and content. The Mamluk period was one of great religious and social change, and in many ways the modern demographic map was established at this time. This volume shows that the situation of the Mamluk Sultanate was far from that of decadence, and until the end it was a vibrant society (although not without tensions and increasing problems) that did its best to adapt and compete in a rapidly changing world.

The Mamluk Sultanate from the Perspective of Regional and World History

Ziel dieses Bandes ist, neue Akzente in der Mamlukenforschung zu setzen. Die Beiträge berühren eine Reihe spannender Themen: Heirat, Ehe und Scheidung, narrative Strategien in den Biogrammen hanbalitischer Richter, Wissensvermittlung, die zeitgenössische politische Ordnung, Wirtschaftswachstum, islamische Philosophie, die Präsenz der Zawawi-Gruppen in der Ayyubiden- und Mamlukenzeit sowie die Islamisierung von Ägypten und Syrien. Alle Beiträge tragen dazu bei, zu einem besseren, differenzierten Verständnis der Mamlukenzeit zu gelangen.Die Autorinnen und Autoren dieses Bandes, Fellows des Bonner Annemarie Schimmel Kollegs »History and Society of the Mamluk Era«, präsentieren in diesem Band die Ergebnisse ihrer am Kolleg durchgeführten Forschungen.

History and Society during the Mamluk Period (1250–1517)

The general field of study of this volume is the History and Culture of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517). It contains the proceedings of the First German-Japanese Workshop held in Tokyo, Japan. The authors write about a variety of topics from rural irrigation systems to high diplomacy vis a vis the Safavid empire and the Ottoman threat. The volume includes case studies of important personalities and families living in the centres of Mamluk power such as Cairo and Damascus as well as analyses of contemporary writers and their stance toward the ruling military class. Next to innovation in the field, this volume is an example of an increasing globalization of scholarship that is fertilizing future research.

Studies on the History and Culture of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517)

The general field of study of this volume is the history and culture of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517). It contains the proceedings of the First German-Japanese Workshop held at the Toyo Bunko in Tokyo, Japan. The authors write about a variety of topics from rural irrigation systems to high diplomacy vis à vis the Safavid empire and the Ottoman threat. The volume includes case studies of important personalities and families living in the centres of Mamluk power such as Cairo and Damascus as well as analyses of contemporary writers and their stance toward the ruling military class. Next to innovation in the field, this volume is an agenda of an increasing globalisation of scholarship that is fertilizing future research.

Studies on the History and Culture of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517)

This volume is a collection of research essays submitted by fellows of the Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg, an Advanced Center of Research in Mamluk Studies. It covers three themes, which correspond to the research agenda of the final three academic years of the Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg. These were: environmental history, material culture studies, and im/mobility. The aim of the contributions is to overcome the disciplinary boundaries of the field and to engage in scholarly debates in Ottoman Studies, European history, archae-ology and art history, and even the natural sciences.

Elaborate and sensational gifts were the hallmark of Mamluk diplomacy. From Cairo, where they controlled the medieval spice trade and the holy sites of Christianity and Islam, the Mamluk Sultans - conscious of their humble slave origins - augmented their claims to legitimacy through brilliant displays of diplomatic gift-giving, creating a celebrated reputation for the Sultanate from Europe to the Far East. From spices, ceremonial textiles and military objects to elephants and giraffes, and even humans - either living or as severed heads - the offerings varied in combination and emphasis according to the status and circumstances of giver and receiver, but always created a sensation. Through an unparalleled study of primary sources and rigorous fieldwork, this original book - richly illustrated in colour - explores the unpredictable and nuanced art of the regal gift in the Mamluk Sultanate from 1250-1517. Doris Behrens-Abouseif not only provides the first study of this subject, but makes an important contribution to the study of diplomacy, economics, visual arts and material culture in the medieval period.

Practising Diplomacy in the Mamluk Sultanate

Mamluk Art: The Splendour and Magic of the Sultans

This volume is a collection of studies by leading historians on central aspects of the Mamluk Empire of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517), and of Ottoman Egypt (16th-18th century) where the Mamluks survived under the Ottoman suzerainty.

The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society

This volume contains seventeen essays on the Mamluk Sultanate written by leading historians of this period, and discusses social and cultural issues, women in Mamluk society, literary and poetic genres, the politics of material culture, and regional and local politics.

Developing Perspectives in Mamluk History

Spanning the greater part of the thirteenth century, the career of the Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, al-Mansur Qalawun, is of great interest for the light it sheds on the major themes of early Mamluk history: the emergence of a new political and administrative structure, characterized by increased militarization and mamlukization; the role of the caliphate and the nature of sultani authority; the problem of succession; Mamluk factionalism; Egyptian-Syrian relations; relations with Mongols and Crusaders; and the importance, not to mention the strategic and complex nature, of international trade in the Mamluk realm. Not only does this work fill a gap in knowledge of the early Mamluk period, complementing the studies we have of Baybars's and al-Nasir Muhammad's reigns, but it goes further than most in analyzing the institutions of the period, and uses hitherto neglected materials to illuminate theoretical and practical questions of Mamluk rule. With indices. "From Slave to Sultan is well written. The analysis is dense and packed with scholarship; it is one of those books of which specialists will devour the notes with even greater relish than they do the text... Graduate students in particular will be grateful for her first chapter, in which she introduces, describes, and evaluates the various sources." MESA Bulletin "This book a will unquestionably stand as the authoritative work on Qalawun for some time to come." School of Oriental & African Studies "Northrup is to be commended for undertaking this important, and much needed, project with her persistent efforts, meticulous and critical reading of the sources, sound methodology, and diligent presentation. The result is a definitive work on the political legacy of one of the most eminent early Mamluk sultans." Journal of Near Eastern Studies . (Franz Steiner 1998)

From Slave to Sultan

In this book, distinguished scholars provide an accessible introduction to the structure of political power under the Mamluks and its economic foundations.

The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society

Building on his award-winning research, Christian Mauder’s In the Sultan’s Salon constitutes the first detailed study of the intellectual, religious, and political culture of the court of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), one of the most important polities in Islamic history.

In the Sultan’s Salon: Learning, Religion, and Rulership at the Mamluk Court of Qāniṣawh al-Ghawrī (r. 1501–1516) (2 vols)

In Europe the Mamluks of Egypt are remembered as so-called 'Slave Kings' who drove out the Crusaders from the Holy Land; but they were far more than that. Though its frontiers barely changed, the Mamluk Sultanate remained a 'great power' for two and a half centuries. Its armies were the culmination of a military tradition stretching back to the 8th century, and provided a model for the early Ottoman Empire, whose own armies reached the gates of Vienna only twelve years after the Mamluks were overthrown. This absorbing text by David Nicolle explores the organisation and tactics of these fascinating people.

The Mamluks 1250–1517

The Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldun described Cairo under the Mamluks as ""a city beyond imagination"". The Mamluk sultans originated as a slave-based caste rose to rule in the mid-13th century. Accordingly, they designed their capital to be the heart of the Muslim world. It became the focus of their enormous patronage of art and architecture, the stage for their ceremonial rituals, and a memorial to their achievements. This history of Mamluk architecture spans three centuries and examines the monuments of the Mamluks in their social, political and urban context, during the period of their rule (1250 - 1517). The book displays the multiple facets of Mamluk patronage, and also provides a succinct discussion of the sixty key monuments built in Cairo by the Mamluk sultans. The unique strength of Doris Abouseif's work lies in its scholarly yet engaging presentation of original material, diligently researched in the waqf (Islamic endowments) archives including architectural plans and personal records. A richly illustrated volume with colour photographs, plans and isometric drawings, it will be an essential reference work for scholars and students of the art and architecture of the Islamic world as well as art historians and historians of late medieval Islamic history. Cairo of the Mamluks received a Commendation from the 2008 BRISMES book awards.

Cairo of the Mamluks

New archaeological material and research underpins this extensive, detailed and beautifully illustrated account of the famous Mamluk Askars who are credited with finally defeating and expelling the Crusaders, halting the Mongol invasion of the Islamic Middle East, and facing down Tamerlane. Probably the ultimate professional soldiers of the medieval period they were supposedly recruited as adolescent slaves, though recent research has begun to undermine this oversimplified interpretation of what has been called the "Mamluk phenomenon".

Mamluk ‘Askari 1250–1517

This volume brings together a series of studies, based mainly on medieval Arabic sources, of Middle Eastern history and society in the late Middle Ages. Several of these studies deal with the confrontation between the Mamluks and the Crusaders. Others deal with aspects of Mamluk society and culture in Egypt and Syria from the 13th to the early 16th centuries. There are articles on Crusader feudalism and Mamluk iqta', the last years of the Crusader states, Mamluk faction fighting and the size of the Mamluk army, the image of the Crusaders in Arabic popular literature, the sex life of the Mamluks, the ritual consumption of horse meat by Mamluks and Mongols, the deployment of gunpowder and firearms in the Middle East, and the shared interest of Ibn Khaldun and al-Maqrizi in the occult. Finally, several studies deal with questions of historiography, in both Crusader and Mamluk studies.

Mamlūks and Crusaders

Studies on the Mamlūks of Egypt (1250-1517)

For over two hundred and fifty years the Mamluks ruled one of the great territorial Empires of the Middle Ages, centered on Egypt and Syria and controlling, at times, most of the Middle East. Irwin now provides the first scholarly history of this period in any Western language. He makes clear the unique political system of the Mamluks, in which the governing class consisted of a white slave elite. At the zenith of their power, the Mamluks were the only regime to inflict a series of defeats on the Mongols and were able to eliminate the last vestiges of the Crusader states from the Middle East. The Mamluk sultanate, during which both Islamic Architecture and technology flourished, was an important epoch in the development of Islam. It was also a period of great growth in trade between Europe and Asia and the flow of scholarship from the Arab world to Renaissance Europe. "

The Middle East in the Middle Ages

The Mamluk Sultanate is in many ways the ultimate medieval Muslim state, based on a military force composed almost exclusively of mounted archers, mainly of Eurasian Steppe provenance. Probably no where else was the military and political elite so closely intertwined and even almost identical. In spite of a certain amount of political instability, as a system and state, it lasted for over a quarter of a millennium, with its rulers, the sultans generally enjoying effective power. Few pre-modern Muslim states can present such a claim. On the whole, too, the Mamluks provided relative security and stability to their subjects. They were famed and lauded for their defeats of the Mongols and Crusaders, and long after these enemies disappeared, the Mamluks exploited their achievements to gain legitimacy. Under the Mamluks, cities thrived, as did commerce, and there was a vigorous cultural life in different areas: religious learning; architecture and crafts; literature and historiography; and, science and technology. The papers in this volume reflect the rich and multifaceted nature of the society of the Mamluk Sultanate as well as the vibrant nature of current research on this subject. The international cast of contributors cover a wide array of topics, dealing with such aspects as politics, military affairs, cultural and literary life, everyday life, and Syria and Palestine under Mamluk rule.

The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria

The Mamluk Sultanate, a powerful medieval Islamic empire that existed from the 13th to the 16th century, played a pivotal role in shaping the history of the Middle East and North Africa. Known for its unique political structure where military slaves, or Mamluks, rose to power, the sultanate oversaw significant cultural and architectural achievements, including the construction of iconic landmarks like the Cairo Citadel and the Madrasa-Mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun. Furthermore, the Mamluks played a vital role in the region's trade networks, facilitating the flow of goods between Europe, Asia, and Africa, thereby contributing to the growth of commerce and cultural exchange. Explore the rich history of the Mamluk Sultanate to gain insights into the intricate tapestry of this dynamic era in the Islamic world.

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